Moscow

The spires of the towers of the Kremlin Walls

It was the Eid in the Middle East, which is the most important holy day in the Islamic calander.  This gave us an extra long weekend to get out and do something.  Unfortunately, accommodation was expensive locally and the temperature here still a little high for camping so we looked further afield.

St Basils at sunset.

Fortunately we able to secure some cheap flights to Moscow,  a city that Kate and I had long wanted to visit.  Moscow had been one of the world's most expensive cities but since the collapse in the value of the Rouble everything was suddenly more affordable.















Affordability aside, there was still some bueauracy to get through.  The visa application was detailed and expensive and at times we reached a point of questioning our decision to go.  It was certainly not made easy.  Still, we persevered and, after much effort from Kate, we obtained our visas.

Red Square at night.  The State Historical Museum

While getting the visas was hard, but doable, everything in Moscow was easy. The airport, connections to the City and getting around the City were all cheap, convenient and the food was excellent. We stayed at the National Hotel which was very well positioned and was good value although their Michelin star Italian Restaurant was very ordinary and certainly did not deserve a star in its own right.

On arrival, we wandered through Red Square to orienate ourselves.  To be honest it seemed smaller that my hazy memories of May Day parades demonstrating Soviet military might and the positioning of the exclusive GUM Shopping Centre with its high end brands is certainly at odds with the visions of Lenin, Stalin, Krushchev, and Breshnev!






















That evening Kate, Ada and I had a great meal at a quality local restaurant, Bolshaya Nikitskaya, which was just around the corner.  I had a wonderful Borsch and we enjoyed a good Georgian red in sumptuous surroundings. All this topped off with a "passagio" along the walls of the Kremlin and through Red Square.

Peter the Great Statue, errected in 1997. One of the Top 10
ugliest statues in the world.  Reputed to have been made for
the 300th aniversary of Columbus discovering the new world
but no one wanted it so it was "re-badged" and sold!
The Catherdral of the Assumption is in the background

We started our morning with a run into Gorky Park.  There was a good footpath along the river and Gorky Park provides a lovely green belt along the Moscow River.  Our first run was with the camera so we could get some sights in the soft morning light and with few others to share the view.

Ada not impressed by my millet and pumkin porridge

We had breakfast at Pushkin Cafe, a plush 19th century Russian/French restaurant adjacent to Pushkin Square with attentive waiters patroling the floor with military precision, their left arm behind their back.  Apparently, it has been the place to been seen for over a century. I had millet and pumpkin porridge with glace cherry tomatoes, wonderful traditional Russion food and thoroughly recommended.














We then went to the Museum of Contemporary History.  One of the main reasons for this choice is that Lucy is studying European History and this museum gave a great record of Russian history from the expansion west and south into Siberia and Central Asia and the Great Game.  It then tracked through WWI, Russian Revolution, inter-war fun and festivities with uncle Joe, WW11, Cold War and the Space Race.  From my perspective, it was reasonably balanced with a few exceptions and the displays of clothing, furniture and equipment was excellent.  Each room had a a card with an English description so you were able to understand the displays.

The Kremlin from the Moscow River

We returned to Red Square for a wander aroung the GUM shopping arcade and some lunch before Ada and Lucy return to the room for screen time while Kate and I went to St Basils Catherdral.  I know, we are bad parents but I really wanted to enjoy St Basils and not be subjected to constant complaints from weary children.

GUM from a window at St Basils on the souther side of Red Square

Art in one of St Basil's churches

It was unlike any Cathedral I has seen, a combination of 7 small seperate churches that were originally burnt during the plague and recontructed into one complex.  Each of the churches is small and would only be able to hold 10 to 20 people standing.  There was no central open area but rather a labrynth of corridors and stairs. We enjoyed a small choir singing Russian Orthodox hymns and roamed the corridor looking at the elaborate iconography.

The long esclators in the Moscow Metro

That night we enjoyed 90 minutes of French interpretive dance at the Bolshoi.  The Bolshoi Ballet was on tour which was a little dissapointing and "they" say that everyone should see a French interpretive dance company at least once before they die.  I am not sure who "they" are but I would like to know their names. Ada's comment on leaving the sumptuous theatre was...'well that certainly was creative'!














The next morning after our run we set off to the Cathedral of the Assumption a massive, more traditional Orthodox Cathedral dating from the 12th century that was the centre of major State events, even when the Capital had move to St Petersburg. After wandering through appreciating the frescos, Ada lit her customery two candles, one for each Grandfather, and we moved to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.

Choir in St Basils

The Museum was hosting a Carveggio and contempories exhibition from Italy that went on display alongside locally collected art from the same artists.  I am no coinossieur of fine art but it was interesting to compare the techniques used in Italy compared to the traditional iconography that was the prevailing art form in Russia at the same time.  You can certainly understand how the renaiisance aritists of Italy, the Netherland and France changed the way that life and religion was interpreted and presented.

Other than this the rest of the Museum was a little dissapointing.  The majority of the exhibits were plaster casts of the various masterpieces such as Michelangelo's David.  They were assembled by the Communists for education purpose, I imagine, at a time when there was no freedom of movement to the West.  Although they were amazingly detailed and a work or art in themselves, looking at plaster copies certianly lessened the experience.

Statues in Ploschad Revolyutsi Metro Station

By the time we had lunch, Ada had reached her threshold and the propect of touring Metro Stations was too much from her.  She joined her sister, who was feeling ill, in the hotel room.  Kate and I went off to see the main Metro stations which were spectactular but I think I had built up too much expectation in my own mind.  To be honest, I thought the Metro stations in central Stockholm were more impressive.

The grand foyer in one of the Main metro stations

That night a great meal at Jamie Oliver's Italian.  You would have thought that the first thing that Putin would have banned in a war of sanctions would be Jamie Olivier.  If I was President I would ban Jamie Oliver and I wouldn't have needed to annex the Crimea to do it! Still, even though he can be a little annoying on TV, the food and atmosphere was great.














Our final day started with a run and finished at the State Armoury in the Kremlin.  It was the highlight of our few days. Armour, weapons, jeweled religious artifacts such as the famous Faberge eggs, elaborate clothing, coaches, sleighs and gold and silver tableware of ocean going proportions.  It really gave you a sense of the wealth and power of the elite in pre-revolutionary Russia.











By that afternoon we were back in Dubai after a great experience. Maybe I should have picked up a Vladamir Putin T Shirt from the vending machine in the Airport!